


Lost Prince of Gotham

by AshWinterGray



Series: Earth 132 [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Gotham Academy (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Breaking news, Detectives, F/M, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Harassment, Jason Todd is Alive, Reveal, Stalker, cover story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26905111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray
Summary: Is Jason Todd Alive?Tune in at 10:30 to see why this article posted online has the entirety of Gotham in shock.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Duke Thomas & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Jason Todd/Original Female Character (one-sided)
Series: Earth 132 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956985
Comments: 2
Kudos: 110





	Lost Prince of Gotham

“Swear to me this wasn’t you.”

“I’ll swear on my parents’ graves, Damian. This wasn’t me. Batgirl has us on a wild goose chasing trying to figure out who. But Jason and I have been teammates for three months now. I respect him too much to force him to lose his freedom.”

Damian nodded at Helena. The two were meeting up in secret at the location of Carmine Falcone’s warehouse. The moment the article had been released, Batgirl had called both Jason and Helena back from their mission. Jason was currently locked in the Clocktower, going mad out of his mind.

**The Lost Prince of Gotham Alive?**

No one was claiming credit for the article. No one was claiming credit for the picture proof either (thankfully of Jason in civilian form). It was a mystery, and one that had terrifying repercussions. If there was one thing Jason liked about being “legally dead” it was the freedom.

This changed that.

“The real question is why would anyone want to bring Jason Todd back,” Helena grumbled bitterly. “If it’s because he is Red Hood, then why haven’t they exposed him? If there is another motive, then what?”

Damian scowled at the ground; no answer clear to him either. They could only hope there wasn’t anything sinister behind the reason for this story. They were all going far to mad over this reveal to be able to safely handle discovering someone just might be blackmailing the second Robin. Jason in particular was on edge.

With a nod at the other, the two not-siblings went off into the night. Damian to the Manor and Helena to the Clocktower. She needed to check on her partner anyways.

All of Gotham…all the world…was in an uproar. Theories were being shared. Arguments were being fought. And the world demanded that Bruce Wayne answer the greatest question the article brought.

**“Does Bruce Wayne know his son is alive?”**

The citizens of Gotham were causing a riot. Because if kind-hearted Bruce Wayne knew his son was alive, then there really was no hope for Gotham. There was a reason the Wayne’s were “Gotham Royalty” and it wasn’t just because of their wealth.

If Bruce Wayne had kept his son being alive a secret, or even dumped his son and left him to rot, Gotham was going to have a civil war on its hands.

Jason knew this. Which was why he had a plan.

He was going to roll with it.

\------------------------

Jason, without a doubt, was a marvelous actor. When Zinda Blake landed the plane in Gotham, he knew there would be a crowd. Bruce had done the press conference just as he asked, declaring that Bruce was sending people to bring his son home. It wasn’t enough to quell suspicion, but it was enough to get the ball rolling. Four days later, Bruce’s “hired” team of investigators located Jason and prepared to bring him home. At the airport, Jason didn’t react when Bruce decided to push past the airway people to run up to Jason. Well, he did react, but not as he normally would with Bruce. He let Bruce pull him into a hug, then made a show of hesitation before breaking down in Bruce’s arms. The guards Bruce had “hired” led them away from the press and to the car where the rest of the family waited. Jason made a show of hugging Dick before giving hesitant smiles to his “siblings he hadn’t met” before they were all ushered into the car.

“That went better than I thought it would,” Jason grinned at the others.

“You expected something to go wrong?” Bruce observed his son carefully.

“Well yeah,” Jason shrugged. “We still have no idea who exposed me. Especially so thoroughly. Someone could have attacked at any moment.”

Bruce seemed…slightly offended.

“I wouldn’t have let that happen, Jay.”

That did cause a physical reaction in Jason. When was the last time Bruce called him Jay? Probably before he ran away to Ethiopia. The tears Bruce had shed seemed real all of a sudden. Did Bruce really want him home?

Jason wasn’t going to get his hopes up.

“So, Leslie is meeting us at Gotham General, right?” Jason changed the subject. “She’ll give me a look over. Then Dinah gives me a psyche. Then we stay quiet for a few days before dropping the bomb.”

“This was your plan,” Tim shot back. “Shouldn’t you know?”

Jason stuck his tongue out at Tim.

The argument wasn’t taken any further, however, as they arrived at Gotham General where Jason was instantly rushed inside. Being the owner of the hospital, Bruce and his family were permitted to avoid the crowds by being sent to one of the offices, where Leslie would meet them. No one, not even the police, were allowed in until Jason had a full exam.

When they finally could enter the room, they asked that Bruce and the family wait outside. Mainly because of the accusations. Bruce’s personal lawyer, as well as a lawyer chosen by the government (secretly nominated by Karen Starr, but who was keeping track, really?), were permitted entrance to the room along with Commissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock, and Detective Montoya. Jason gave his cover story to them.

“I’m not sure what Bruce actually found, but it wasn’t me,” Jason began, playing his role of victim perfectly. “I think they wanted money or something, but I managed to get away. Got knocked on the head pretty bad, and I woke up in a hospital and couldn’t remember much. They must have taken my passport because I had no identification, so I was stuck overseas for a while. Managed to illegally cross the border and it took a bit too long for me to remember anything. By that point, Bruce had adopted other kids, and he seemed happy, so I kept my distance. Didn’t really think it would matter if I came home.”

“And growing up on the streets of Gotham wouldn’t have helped that thought process,” Jim nodded in understanding. “We’re glad you’re home son.”

Jason gave Jim a weak smile and left the police and the lawyers to go talk to Bruce and the others, where they took their turn spinning the story. With the evidence brought forward (as faked as it was), the two lawyers were sent to discuss bringing Jason Todd back to life with a judge. Neither had any doubt that they would succeed, and Jim gave Bruce a friendly pat to congratulate him on the return of his son.

It was a little more knowing than Bruce would have liked, but neither man acknowledged it.

With Jason checked out and confirmed to be in top form by Doctor Thompkins, Jason and the family went home, where Alfred had prepared a meal for them. By the time everything was over, the Bats went out to patrol as Jason stayed in the cave. Red Hood wasn’t supposed to be in Gotham at the moment, after all. It was no secret he had partnered with the Birds of Prey to try and stop Gotham’s underworld for taking over, but they had linked several different organizations to places outside Gotham and were trying to shut down those operations.

However, being benched meant he was keyed up, and he was still taking his frustration out on a punching bag that looked a little worse for wear by the time the family got back. So did Jason’s knuckles.

One look from Alfred was all Bruce needed to stalk over to his son and catch his fist.

“Let. Go.”

“I think it’s time to take a break, lad.”

Jason’s brain short-circuited. Now _that_ was a nickname Jason _never_ thought he would hear again. Dick was always chum. Tim was his partner. Cass was his darling. Damian was his son. But Jason _never_ thought he would be Bruce’s lad again.

He thought that was gone. Just like everything else he wanted before he died.

“What?”

Bruce tucked Jason to him, using his cape to wrap Jason in a familiar, warm comfort.

“It’s time to rest now, lad. You’ve been running yourself ragged for too long.”

Maybe he was tired. Maybe his brain was still reeling from the nickname. Maybe he was sick.

But Jason accepted the offer and went to sleep in the guest room Alfred had set up for him. He both wished he was dreaming, and that if he was dreaming, that he never wake up.

Babs gave a reality check the next morning.

\-----------------------

“I’ve managed to narrow down the signal to a specific location,” Babs explained on her ‘visit to welcome Jason home’. “In fact, I’ve managed to narrow down the creation of the article to a specific laptop. Here. In Gotham.”

The group blanched at the location on the screen. Gotham Academy pinged on the map, and an identity of a person Jason had never _seen_ before appeared on the screen beside it.

“Abigail Swanson,” Tim read aloud for the people who couldn’t see Babs laptop. “Senior at Gotham Academy. Likes to travel. Part of the Pizza Club. Know her?”

The last question was directed at Jason, who shook his head in bewilderment.

“Tt, perhaps not, but it is clear she may be a potential threat,” Damian stated. “So you should count yourself lucky, Todd, that I have an acquaintance in the Pizza Club of Gotham Academy.”

The current youngest Wayne child was already texting someone on his phone as he spoke.

“Is this the girl whose roommate was Katherine Karlo?” Bruce asked his youngest. “The best friend and current roommate of Olive Silverlock?”

“Yes.”

That appeared to be the end of that revelation. The next thing the Bats knew, Damian had a ‘lunch date’ with Mia Mizoguchi. They met at Bat Burger, knowing it was one of the last places any reporter would expect to see Damian Wayne, and Kyle Mizoguchi, who was accompanying his sister, glared at anyone who tried to take a picture, as Olive Silverlock acted as a block to anyone trying to snap photos anyways.

“Knowing you, you learned Abigail exposed your brother,” Maps stated, grinning at the boy that was _definitely_ Robin. Not that Maps would dare hint to the fact that she knew.

Damian cocked his head. “We discovered that this morning.”

Nearby, someone got frustrated at Olive and began to shout in her face. When she still refused to move, he shoved her, resulting in getting kicked out of the restaurant. No one else wanted to get kicked out, so they kept to themselves. With Babs scrambling the security feed, only eyewitness proof would prove he was here.

“Listen, we’re going to confront Abigail today,” Maps sighed. “We told her it was a terrible idea to expose Jason like that, but she wouldn’t listen. Something about needing to ‘solve the mystery’ or something. She had a crush or something. She thought she was doing him a favor by ‘uniting them’. Now, I won’t pretend to understand what’s going on, and the detective in me is _dying_ to figure it out. But I also know that you have a right to your privacy. And the fact that Abigail _stalked_ your ‘dead’ adopted brother across continents and then exposed him isn’t cool. Just…let us handle it and then you can slap lawsuits after.”

“Deal,” Damian agreed. “And thank you, Maps. This will put our family at ease. Given how we lost my brother in the first place, we were afraid someone was after him.”

Maps winced. “Add that to the list of reason to kick her,” she mumbled under her breath. “We’ll take care of it.”

With that confirmation, Damian left the restaurant. Information he needed successfully recorded in the cave. And if Maps had slipped her Nightwing toy in with his Red Robin toy, Damian would find a way to thank her later.

\--------------------------------

Three days later, Jason gave a press release explaining his cover story to the world. He answered questions easily, played his part well, and went home to punch out another punching bag.

When it was ‘anonymously’ revealed to the press that Abigail Swanson had stalked Jason in his new life and exposed him, there were, in fact, lawsuits. Of course, Damian waited until Maps let him know that they had dealt with Abigail on their end before ‘anonymously’ giving the information to the press.

Which led to today.

“Feel better?” Huntress asked her partner.

“You have no idea,” Jason dropped the last guy to ground, grinning behind his mask. “I haven’t felt that relieved to punch someone out since I woke up from being dumped in the Lazarus Pit.”

Helena snorted. “Then I suppose we should move on to the next location.”

As the two partners took off into the night, Jason let himself feel relief. It felt so good to be back.

\-------------------------------

**The Lost Prince of Gotham is Alive?**

_April 27 th is a sad day in the history of Gotham. On April 27th, three years ago, Gotham lost one of its Princes. Jason Todd died a terrible death in Ethiopia. _

_But is Jason Todd really dead._

_In this article, I document several places and events that prove Jason Todd might actually be alive._

\------------------------------

“No,” Jason said as raced back into the dining room. “No! No! No! Take it down! Right now!”

“But Little Wing?”

“No. Take it down.”

“Master Jason,” Alfred stepped into the room. “You wouldn’t let an old man lose the momento he owns that brought his grandson home, would you?”

Jason glared at the ground.

“Fine.”

Apparently, Alfred had framed the news article and placed it in the hallway. The hallway that led to the bedrooms. It would be a while before Jason stopped glaring at it.

\------------------------

_My only hope is that this information reaches Jason Todd and he know how much we want him home. Gotham misses its Prince, and we hope he returns. Should he return, we hope he has a better future. But the real question is…_

**Does Bruce Wayne know his son is alive?**

**Author's Note:**

> Abigail Swanson is an OC I created for the purpose of this fic.


End file.
